Memorial Service For Fanci Beebe

This past Sunday, citizens from all corners of Second Life converged on the Sims surrounding Sailors Cove theater for a final tribute to Fanci Beebe.

There were no special introductions or Linden splash-screen announcements; nonetheless more than 110 serious users somehow crowded into two adjacent sims for the chance to pay tribute to Fanci’s memory.

Please join with me in great appreciation to Joy Canadeo, who assisted Fanci during her last year online; Joy was also in charge of the ceremony, and did a wonderful job considering the unprecedented crowds that attended the service.

Let me also offer great thanks to David Wetherby and Chaos Mandelbrot, who orchestrated the post-ceremony Memorial Cruise. The view of all the boats streaming together followed by the fleet in Fanci’s Deep paying their final homage proved truly extraordinary.

I’m also indebted to Anu Daviau, who let me share her copy of the Service proceedings below.

In Attendance

Aislin Keynes , Allian Resident, Ambrosous Core, Amythest Wingtips, Ansaja Guardian, Anu Daviau, Ariel Gallais, Arrwyll Barzane, Augustus Grayman, Austin Shepherd, Barbarella Bravin, BeeJee Boucher, BennyThe Boozehound, Bitterleaf Menges, Bruckner Dreddmor, Captivitas Resident, Cate Foulsbane, Chad Sawson, Chaos Mandelbrot, Charlz Price, Chatbat Resident, CherryBommb Resident, Chess Bishop, Clay Ellison, Cullen Debruyere, Darla Upshaw, David Wetherby, Deanna Fang, DeyJaVue Resident, Diamond Marchant, Djneko Blackheart, Dolci Woodget, Don Berithos, Don Setzer, Dori Helstein, Driff Beardmore, Drwyndwn Tyne, eleao Resident, Eveline Catteneo, Fearless Freenote, Fiona Haworth, Foneco Zuzu, ForeverSundays Resident, Gaia Rhapsody, Gemma Vuckovic, Gisela Daniels, Gjo Bing, Goku Barbosa, GraceSWF Wrigglesworth, Greythistle Twine, Hannelore Ballinger, Hellsmut Resident, IrishGent Resident, Jane Fossett, Jaylin Wytchwood, Jdgirl1969 Resident, Jean Swashbuckler, Jennifertopgun Resident, Jerit Weiser, Jojamela Soon, Jolene Dereham, Josy Laville, Joy Canadeo, Keneth80 Whitfield, Kentrock Messmer, Kernian Sigal, Kimiko Rieko, Kittensusie Landar, Krys4sl Resident, KrystalLore Resident, LadySmack Gears, Laure Levenque, Lesbo Charisma, Llena Lilliehook, LoganWillow Resident, Lolly Lockhart, LunalindaBranwen Resident, Malate Banufong, Marco2feelgood Masala, Marina Hyandi, MarkTwain White, Mialinn Telling, Mo Xute, Mobiusonemasterchief Infinity, MoodyBlues Mougin, Moonshade Pastorelli, Moontears Vought, Mystery Huntress, Nagash Demina, Nber Medici, Orca Flotta, Patrick Leavitt, Ralfo Rossini, Reverie Boucher, Rich Randall, Rich Reynaud, Riverwelldrive Resident, RJ Kikuchiyo, Roan Blackburn, RoDen Kilian, Rowan Aurbierre, Runa McMillan, SanFroggy Resident, SerenetyAeon Resident, Shannon Oherlihy, Silber Sands, SkyeSunset Resident, Socair Foxtrot, Sommer Shepherd, SteveLL Resident, Steve Yiwama, Sudane Erato, Sundhi Joubert, Sylvi Flores, Titus Tobias, TreMeldazis Resident, TwitchyEars Resident, Twohead Janus, Vadimar Takahe, Wilma Webster, Winnie Sweetwater, Xi Larnia.

[If your name is not on the list, please contact Jane Fossett]

Memorial Ceremony for Fanci Beebe
October 27 2013

Joy Canadeo

Welcome everyone, and thank you for all being here to Honor & Celebrate Fanci.

As I was preparing for this day, I received so many notes , messages, and pictures from people Fanci has touched over her years in SL. I was truly amazed!

When I started as Estate Manager I would observe how firm she was about a hill not being removed, trees not being sent back. At first I thought this was extreme until I looked out over the beautiful estate Fanci & Patrick created and protected. That was when I GOT IT!!

There were times we would be working and she would say “can you finish up here love, I see someone just came on-line who has been ill, and I want to talk to them to she how they are”. She cared so much for everyone.

When we would be in here with our alts getting people into land groups we would laugh and call each other Sybil, because we would forget which alt we were, and the multiple personalities took over:)

The last time I spoke with Fanci on the phone she told me she loved me and finished with God Bless. I am certain she would say the same to each and everyone here. Fanci I love you, and miss you everyday.

Thank you Patrick, Rowan, Drw, Ey, and Rich, & Chaos for helping in creating this day. Shannon Oherily was one of Fanci’s favorite singers here at the theater. She will sings a few songs in her honor… she will not try to move and will sing from where she is on the sim :

(Shannon Oherily sings)

Joy Canadeo: Thank you Shannon.
I would like to introduce our first speaker Sudane Erato Owner of SL New England and Co-Captain of the Blake Sea

Sudane Erato 

Thank you
I’ve known Fanci a long time.
We were owners of supposedly “rival” estates… yes…
both members of the owners group of the United Sailing Sims.
But never with much contact. Sailors Cove went its way…
New England went its way.
We had met… but not much more.
That changed when I was asked to take on the responsibility of coordinating the USS owners group and talking on its behalf with Linden Lab. The absolute first thing that came to my mind was… I must get to know Fanci.

We set up a Skype meeting… we always talked on Skype. We hit it off immediately. That first meeting, we talked, literally, for hours. Please understand… Fanci and I were very different… but from that first conversation, we tapped into something we both shared… something that I’m sure that everyone here will recognize.

Fanci had a deep and profound common sense, and she also had a vast energy to act on her common sense. She bowled me over. Fanci had a huge passion and energy for her community of Sailors Cove. Even when we spoke, I knew she was worrying over someone’s problems that needed addressing.

We always talked for hours… both about the issues we were facing in the USS with Linden Lab (issues which sadly will never be resolved) and about issues in our real lives. About RL, she spoke about only two things. She spoke about her business, attending the craft fairs that she loved so much. And she spoke about Patrick and her love and concern for him. What came out overwhelmingly in my chats with Fanci was an incredible passion for her community here and a profound common sense about the problems the community faced. She truly loved Sailors Cove.

We recognized in each other a shared passion for our beautiful estates, and that passion and commitment caused us to chat long and frequently… we burned up the Skype airwaves. Suddenly she’s gone.

I’m sure I share everyone’s sentiment here. We’ll surely miss her.

I’m very pleased to introduce next my dear friend Nber Medici….

Nber Medici

Thank you Sudane.

Patrick, my thoughts and prayers go out to you. Losing Fanci has been terrible for you, I pray that your pain will be blunted by time.

In thinking about how I was going to talk about Fanci today… I started and stopped and started and stopped. It felt like hundreds of times. How was I going to explain how I felt about Fanci?

I was finally drawn to a Bible verse, “Ye shall know them by their fruits”… which is usually translated … You shall know them by their deeds.

So what were Fanci’s deeds? I’ll focus on three.
First, was her commitment to the Relay for Life / Sail for Life effort. She didn’t seek the limelight, but she worked tirelessly and with endless good humor to further that cause. AND she was incredibly successful. She will be impossible to replace. It is SO ironic that she was taken by the very disease that she fought against.

Second, was her work with Patrick in building this wonderful community of Sailors Cove. I have been struck by how many of the residents here have expressed their admiration and affection for Fanci. She truly cared for each and every one, and it showed in her actions. Not only was she good with her residents, but she also was a true artist in designing and building the regions. She has truly built a marvelous place for the residents and I feel blessed to be able to help preserve that as part of her legacy.

Third, is the friendship that both Fanci and Patrick have always given to MarkTwain and me. One of the happiest days of my Second Life was June 28th, 2008 when Union Passage region became the connection point between the United Sailing Sims and the Sailors Cove regions.

Working with Fanci and Patrick to join their regions to those of the USS was a true joy. and our friendship only deepened over the years.

Fanci… I miss you….but I look forward to seeing you again… and hearing your infectious laughter… when I join you on that distant shore.

The next speaker needs no introduction, but he is my long-time best friend, MarkTwain White.

MarkTwain White

Thank you Nber.

My comments about Fanci are going to focus on the last year of her life, and the work that we did together in that time. I could say MANY other things about Fanci, but not many people know about this part of her life.

For almost a year before Fanci was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer Nber and I had many meetings with Fanci as we struggled together trying to solve an issue that was plaguing the Blake Sea. For over 18 months the USS, their leaders, and race directors were challenged by a number of WW2/Modern naval enthusiasts that, for the most part, ignored the peaceable purpose of the Blake Sea which was for sailing first but for the enjoyment of all.

Fanci, Nber, and I struggled on how to deal with this issue without the help of LInden Lab who had abandoned their support of those trying to administer the Blake Sea. Over the course of that time we saw Fanci begin to decline. We did not understand it at the time and we don’t think Fanci even understood, but it was clear that she felt ill and tired much of the time we struggled to find a solution to the problems in those Contested Waters of the Blake Sea.

When Patrick shared with Nber and me the shocking news that Fanci had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and only had a matter of months to live we were dismayed. Both Patrick and Fanci made the decision to sell the Sailor’s Cove estates. They were hopeful that the owners of the USS would be able to purchase the sims and thereby keep Sailors Cove intact. Happily that happened.

This presented Nber and me with a unique opportunity. We were able to take four homesteads and without dislocating any residents re-purpose those four sims into an area we named Fanci’s Deep. Fanci’s Deep is a fitting tribute to a woman who stood for peace. Not only did Fanci’s Deep let us get full rezz turned off in the Contested Waters of the Blake Sea thus ending the WW2/Naval problem, it also provided a home for two other communities: the pirates and the mer community.

The Mer community has responded positively to the presence of four sims a short swim from the Blake Sea suitable to their needs.

Fanci always wanted to see a mer community developed in the Sailor’s Cove sims. Happily that is happening in Fanci’s Deep where Fanci will always have a living memorial to her and three of the things she loved: peace, community, and mers.

Fanci, if I could talk with you today.. I would thank you for your dreams and spirit. By knowing you, I am a better person.

Now I would like to introduce the next speaker: Aislin Keynes, Aislin is a USS owner and longtime leader in Sail for Life.

Aislin Keynes

Thank You Mark.

Nber, so much of what you said reflects my thoughts on Fanci’s commitment to the community and her work with Relay For Life.

I have been thinking for days how I could possibly put into words what Fanci has meant to me and to all of us here in Second Life. When I sat down last night with a box of kleenex to write this my mind was flooded with pictures of so many fun times over the years. The Halloween parties, Mardi Gras, shopping. the days, no… months!, spent working on Relay For Life and the Sail For Life events.

It reminded me of how dedicated she was to others, to the community.

Fanci cared so much about community. Look around at what she and Patrick have created. Sailors Cove is truly a special corner of Second Life. For me, I miss my friend. I miss our late night chats about anything and everything and nothing at all. I know that I’ll think of her every time I look across the strait and see the seasons changing in Little Bear.

Patrick, I am so sorry for your loss. I believe with time that the pain of losing someone as special as Fanci will ease, but she is one that we shall never forget. Fanci, Thank You, I will miss you, we all will.

Chad has also written a few words that I would like to share with you.

Chad Sawson

Thanks Ais…

It is rare that one finds a true friend, let alone a friend in another country. And on top of that finding this special friend in an online virtual environment.

How fortunate we all were to have encountered Fanci Beebe and all that she was. Fanci became a sister to me and I cannot grasp not being able to banter with her now. We spent hundreds of hours working together with Sail For Life. Not one of those hours unenjoyable… Her humor rose above all even during the difficult times. Her dedication and work benefited thousands of people. She was simply amazing!

No one stands out to me more than she did, as a person that always looked to help and support our sailing community. Her eyes were always on the good of the whole and that was reflected by the way she hosted Sailors Cove. She strived to bring the cream of the crop into our sailing community and keep them engaged through the many community outreach activities she did and was involved in.

My heart goes out to Patrick… Times have been and will be difficult for him. In closing, I ask that everyone that Fanci touched…. Take a good look at how she influenced you and your experiences here in SL. And….

PAY IT FORWARD!

We loved you Fanci! Fair winds and calm seas! Farewell best friend…………..

Rowan Aurbierre

Thank you very much Aislin and Chad.

We are going to hear a few words, and a song, recorded for us by Mamaa Saiz. Mamaa was another of Fanci’s favorite singers, and he performed regularly here. Unfortunately he couldn’t be with us today, but wanted to make this recording for Fanci. After his song, we will hear our next speaker, Jojamela Soon. Jojamela was one of the owners of Sailors Cove Theater, and one of Fanci’s oldest and dearest friends.

(Mamaa Saiz sings)

Jojamela Soon

Fanci was my friend. She would throw me carrots and berries and try not to step on me.

All the years are just a jumble to me now, it seems like just yesterday that Patrick introduced her to me, There are too many memories of sailing and beaches and dances and music to share.

For six years she was always there for me, supported me, loved me. But it wasn’t just me. She was so full of love and care.

She was creative, from her art in RL to the art she created in SL, the beauty within her emanated from her and we were the beneficiaries.

She was with me through terrible times and major changes in my RL life and always in touch, even after I left SL, calling and checking on me, keeping me up to date with the news and happenings, encouraging me to come back and visit when I could.

I spoke with her a week before she passed, she called me at home and I could hear the pain in her voice.

She told me of her love for Patrick, of her love of Sailors Cove.

We talked about our families, children and grand children.

In my heart I knew she was saying goodbye and it hurt so bad, but I’m also so grateful to her for that last call. I had the chance to tell her how much I loved her one last time.

Life is not the same, I keep expecting her to call with the latest news. We shared so much of our personal lives outside of SL. I will miss you Fanci my sister, my friend, SL will never be the same for me without you in it.

Thank you Joy, and Patrick who I love so dearly, I wish I could hug you and tell you that it will be ok, it will.

Thank you everyone who contributed to this event. Kentrock my friend, the floor is yours.

Rowan Aurbierre

We will now have a moment of silence for 2 of our dear friends, Fanci Beebe-Leavitt and ChippyAnn Kamm, another Sailors Cove Resident who passed this year.

(…a minute of silence…)

Kentrock Messmer

Hello, it’s good to see so many of Fanci’s friends here.

Fanci was such a happy friendly person her friends list must have been in the thousands. I met Fanci back in 2007; it was the first week I was in SL. I typed in sailing in search and ended up here. After renting a dock Fanci and I talked for a long time.

She told me all about the Sailors Cove and sailing. Fanci was an artist in Real Life and she brought that artistic vision here to Sailors Cove. She was very meticulous about every detail here. This is still the most beautiful estate I have ever seen in SL. Rowan and I have made Sailors Cove our home for 90% of the time we have been in SL.

Fanci made you feel at home here. She built a wonderful community of great people. I was so honored when Fanci asked me to be her Commodore. I accepted because Fanci needed help. We had the FIYC round of the One World Regatta coming up and Epi was too sick to be online.

That first regatta was very stressful, but Fanci was there with a funny comment or a kind word that kept me calm and smiling.

After the racing and race committee meeting was over it was a wonderful feeling to go to Fanci’s after party in full swing feeling like a part of “The Team”.

A lot of people liked to help Fanci because she made it so much fun. Her team could really throw a party! The Halloween party was always her favorite. She went all out on that one. The Christmas party was always beautiful. I think St Patrick’s Day was St Patrick Levitt’s Day in Fanci’s mind. 🙂 Then Valentine’s Day and all the Sail for Life events. Fanci always had a million things going on.

Fanci was very dedicated to raising money for Sail for Life. She put an enormous amount of time into organizing the Sailors Cove and Fishers Island Yacht Club events.

I was always amazed at how successful her events were. The millions of Lindens she raised over the years is quite a tribute to the generosity of Fanci’s friends and this community.

When Rowan and I began helping Fanci with the Estate I realized just how busy she really was in SL and RL. We talked on Skype almost every day. When Fanci logged in she would be getting “Ding Dinged” as she put it with instant messages, so she would log off to talk. It was usually around lunch time, I really looked forward to shooting the breeze with Fanci and “The Kids” her 2 beloved poodles.

We would be talking and Fanci would say hold on I am getting “Ding Dinged by the Kids”, rabbit in the yard or lost squeaky toy or other urgent doggie mater. I miss our talks so much..

Words cannot describe how I miss Fanci.

I am not going to say good bye because I believe we will meet up again in the next life. I think Fanci, Epi, Delinda, Francois and ChippyAnn are there now having a wonderful time.

Now I would like to give the podium to Patrick, Fanci’s long time partner, Founder of Sailors Cove and Co-Founder of Fishers Island Yacht Club.

Patrick Leavitt

Thanks Kent

Thank you everyone for being here. Today we celebrate the life of my beloved Fanci. She loved second life and made many friends along the way. The fact you are here today is proof of that.

It is fitting that we have her memorial here at the venue. She fought long and hard to keep this going and honor what Jojamela had built. She loved music in SL and in fact it was at a Louis Landon concert that we met. We were inseparable from that moment on over 6 years ago.

I cant say it was always easy for us, but we always had plenty of love to see us through. We were in love as much as two people could be which transcended this virtual world. I miss her terribly and I know many of you do too.

She loved to laugh and love. She was an artist in RL and it showed in her work here in Sailors Cove. She so enjoyed changing the seasons and especially the Haunted house at Halloween, and the skating rink at Christmas. She loved her winter holidays.

She kept saying how her life changed in an instant. She would want us to celebrate that we are still living and to make the most of it.

I had a realization while trying to figure out what to say here today. It was that Fanci would not want to be a burden to anyone anywhere. That she would want to go quickly. She did just that.

She wanted to stay and be in world just one more time. Go Sailing one more time, Go Dancing one more time. She loved Second Life and all of her friends here. She wanted to talk to you all one more time.

It is fitting to close with the words from her profile that caught my attention so long ago:

LIVE WELL ~LAUGH OFTEN ~LOVE MUCH
~ You’ve got to work like you don’t need the money ~
~ And love like you’ll never get hurt ~
~ You’ve got to dance as if there’s nobody watching ~
~ It’s got to come from the heart if you want it to work ~

God Bless everyone and thank you for all of your support, love and friendship. She loved us all and saw the best in people, even beyond our Avatars.

Thank you for supporting the Fanci’s deep project that Mark so graciously started. Thank you to the new owners of Sailors Cove your actions were a blessing to Fanci and her family.

I have been blessed with many wonderful friends that really have helped me through some difficult times. Thank you all.

Fanci and I have been ecstatic to have the only real and honorable SL Coast Guard group in SL  join us here on Bull Rock. So, it is my pleasure to introduce Captain Ansaja Guardian who will now take the podium.

Cpt Ansaja Guardian (SLCG)

Thank you Patrick

Admiral Laxness is deeply grieved to be unable to make it here today, and has asked me to speak in his stead.

The passing of Fanci Beebe-Leavitt death is a huge loss, to SL, and to the boating community. She has always been a huge supporter of enjoying the water responsibly, and as such supported the SLCG and our mission of boating safety…

It is our privilege to honor her memory by giving her a salute of respect. We wish her fair seas….

( SLCG salutes )

Rowan Aurbierre

Thank you Ansaja.

I’d like to share a poem I read recently. It is called Sea Fever, by John Masefield.

I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.
I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

This concludes our memorial today. Thank you to all our speakers and performers. A special thank you to Drwyndwn Tyne who created this setting for us today. And thank you all for coming. There is a memorial book to the left of the stage, please take a moment and sign it if you wish.

Thank you all very much!

Also, while you are signing, pick up a memorial rose from the basket – we will drop these at the end of the sail at Fanci Deep. You can also pick up a rose from behind the bleachers.

And now, time for the sail!

( Amazing Grace on Bag Pipe)

Joy Canadeo

As a resident said to me recently Fanci is most likely up there saying Stop your crying and go Sailing!!!

(Fleet of 30+ boats leaves for a cruise to Fanci’s Deep)

___

Condolence Book
( -7pm Oct 27th)

alis Ildor:   R.I.P

Ardour Allen:   Sincere sympathies from those who knew and admired Fanci for all she did, without the benefit of knowing her personally.

Baldi McMillan:   My thoughts and prayers to all. Fanci touched and blessed so many with Her presence,surely She is at peace and in the care of the Lord. God be with you Patrick.

Ey Ren:   Deepest condolences and warm thoughts in your time of loss, Patrick. ~Ey

Jean Swashbuckler:   Patrick, Fanci has been and will always be in our thoughts and prayers. She was a true friend and mentor. We will miss her deeply. TexasKat and I send our heartfelt best wishes in this time. Our thoughts are with you and Fanci’s family.

Pippa Rexen:   You were like my SL sister. I owe you so much. Peace will always surround your memory. Love Pippa

Rubyleaf Dryke:   My heart goes out to you in this moment of grief and longing. A truly great person.

Timotheus Garnet:   Deepest condolences and warm thoughts to all concerned!

Tim & Kirsten Stormy Panthar:   My deepest condolences to a dear friend. May she rest in peace.

Oona Riaxik:   I love you, Fanci. Goodbye. Play among the stars with Chippy and Hallie. You will remain in my heart always. Bisous!

Dori Helstein:   Love and peace to all that loved Fanci; and to Patrick & her family the strength to carry on. A rare beautiful woman, an angel. Bye friend.

Laure Levenque:   Patrick, Fanci had an incredibly compassionate heart and shined a warm, bright light to all those around her. I will never forget her. May you be comforted and at peace. Much love, Laure Levenque

Mialinn Telling:   My deepest condolences to Fancis family, Patrick and friends. May she rest in peace. – Mialinn

Jon Regent:   Patrick, My condolences. Fanci was a wonderful lady.

Ome Audeburgh:   Patrick, I don’t know you; I never met Fanci – but I do know your pain and I’m so sorry.. *hugs you tightly*

Malate Banufong:   Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead Scribbling on the sky the message She is Dead. Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves, Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves. She was our North, our South, our East and West, Our working week and our Sunday rest, Our noon, our midnight, our talk, our song; I thought that She would last forever: I was wrong.

Frangipami Imako:   When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. ~Kahlil Gibran

Vikeesh Resident:   Chaque fois que je mettrais un bateau à l’eau, j’aurais toujours une pensée pour le travail inestimable de Fanci.Patrick soit fort dans la vie à l’image du combat mené par Fanci contre la maladie. Elle restera dans nos cTmurs et nos pensées. Every time I would put a boat in the water, I would always have a thought the inestimable work of Fanci. Patrick is strong in the life just like the fight led by Fanci against the disease. She(it) will stay in our hearts and our thoughts. RIP Fanci.

Roan Blackburn:   Dear Patrick….our sincere condolences. She will be missed terribly. Roan and Don Berithos

Kristen1077 Resident:   My deepest Sympathies. Fanci will be greatly missed. If you need anything please let me know =)

Janusz Quartz:   ”On passe une moitié de sa vie à attendre ceux qu’on aimera et l’autre moitié à quitter ceux qu’on aime.”(Victor Hugo) Janusz Quartz

Carmen333 Seda:   May you find peace and solice in this very hard time.. I am happy to have had an opportunity to know Fanci.. she was amazing!!

djneko Blackheart:   We see hope in the morning light Where Her love shines like the dawn. Heaven is the best place where she should rest so worry no more. May God grant you perfect peace., we will surely meet her again, i miss you miss franci

Maurice Minotaur:   Dear Patrick … I was informed with deep sadness that your dear Fanci passed away . I would like to express my condolences and I wish you all the courage to go through this hard time. With great emotion… Maurice Minotaur

Peeter Tamerlane:   I dont know parsonally Fanci… I just like this sims, what give for me peace and fun, beauty and friendships, clear free sky for flying, and heath cleaning water when I sailing here… Soo who is Fanci? Maybe this is she… soul of SL… Thank you..

Leah Kappa:   Patrick, My deepest condolences and my prayers are with you and her family on this devistating loss…she will be missed dearly…Leah

Eon Peterson:   For Fanci, bless her. Such a lovely person and will never be forgotten. Our love, condolences and sympathy to Patrick and her family. Eon and Godiva Peterson

Veritas Raymaker:   Fanci, thank you for the love and joy you brought to our community. May your soul find perfect rest in our Lord. from the crew of the SS Galaxy

Franko Koenig:   My wife and I would like to say you and Fanci family our deepest condolences. She will stay in our hearts and memories for ever. We wish you Patrik the strength for this hard time. We will pray for you. Franko Koenig & Celine Shoreland

Anu Daviau:   My very deepest condolences to you, Patrick, and her Family. “By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered, and confidently waiting, come what may, we know that God is with us night and morning, and never fails to greet us each new day.” Anu Daviau

Mystery Huntress:   Our prayers and condolences to Patrick and Fanci’s family. Fanci was an amazing lady and will be dearly missed. God speed and fair winds in heaven Fanci. ~Mystery and Ambro

Seaplane Jonson:   Deepest condolences for your loss, Patrick. Fanci was a wonderful person, and will be missed by so many.

Sarandel Llewellyn:   Fanci was loved by all.. She will be remembered in the hearts of all sailors.. I wish Patrick and her family the best in the coming days, and you all will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Jdgirl1969 Resident:   i never had the pleasure of meeting Fanci but her work and personality are legendary. i am no stranger to the loss you feel and offer my condolences and sincere love to both patrick and family

Dolphin Dancer:   Fanci will be missed sorely by those whose lives she touched. A fair wind has taken her to a place of peace. Thoughts and prayers to Patrick and her family Dee in SL Anna in InWorldz

Datura Avril:   I’ve never had the privilege of meeting Fanci. Yet, if the spirit of these lands was imbued by her, I find myself wanting. How much more must you feel her absence. With deep compassion,

Datura RlL Bogbat:   My deepest sympathies, my thoughts are with you and ger family. best wishes for a wonderfual person

jes Eilde:   we were very sorry to hear about Famci. Whenever we spoke she was always helpful and polite. Best wishes and condolences

Winnie Sweetwater:   To describe Fanci in a single word, it would have to be caring. She cared about those around her and her community not superficially but with heartfelt authenticity. My sincere condolences to Patrick and her family. I will miss her very much

sundhi Joubert:   Our deepest sympathies, Patrick. Fearless and Sundhi

SkyeSunset Resident:   We are so sad to hear this news. Our hearts are broken. We loved Fanci so dearly. Our thoughts and prayers are with you Patrick. Logan & Skye Willow

LucyAL2881 Resident:   If it is irue that we are defined by what we give to others, then we need look no further to find how you should be defined: your legacy is all around us here. One regret only:   that there was so little time for me to know you better. Lucy Reverie

Thanasis Keng:   R.I.P.

Gator Peterman:   When I began to notice you were not much on anymore, I figured you were on a holiday. But when the holiday did not seem to end I wondered what was wrong. I learned what was wrong not long after that. I am sure you are in good hands now, no tears:)

Corie Charisma:   Her candle is Sailors Cove, the flame all those who loved Fanci, carry on her legacy in prayer, thought, kindness. Thank-you Fanci for the hand of friendship. Fair Winds Smooth Sailing & sprinkle a change in seasons over heavens gardens too. 🙂 Corie

TwitchyEars Resident:   A Gentle Soul with a Heart Full of Love. So kind to me and my partner. We miss her much. Our condolences to Patrick and her family. Izzy and Prim

Hades Inaka:   Deepest condolences for your loss, Patrick. Fanci was a wonderful person, and will be missed by so many..Hades Inaka

ForeverSundays Resident:   I miss you…will miss our rl talk the most about kids, and love.. I think youd be happy Justin and I fond each other xoxoox Franci thank you..

foneco Zuzu:   May We be Blessed in Heaven by Your smile and Love as We where on Earth

BeeJee Boucher:   i will miss Fanci, xxx

Fiona Haworth:   Fair Winds Fanci. You will be missed.

Fiona Socair Foxtrot:   rest in peace, Socair Foxtrot

Kent Shippe:   Our deepest condolences, she was a wounderful person, she will live on in our thoughts. ~ Kent and LilleMy.

Kejwla Anwyl:   May you take comfort in knowing an angel is watching over you. Little & Kejwla Anwyl

eleao Resident:   To Fanci, person before, Angel now … well. You may have left us and left this void in our hearts, but the passage of our history that you wrote will be forever, until we meet again to go out to sea, sailing in boats made of clouds, this time without goodbye. Miss you, and see you soon

Drwyndwn Tyne:   Patrick, I wish I could ease your pain. Fanci was my best friend in SL. She was a great lady and an inspiring personality. I will miss her deeply.

Old Bailey:   Few people touch the hearts of so many with their kindness and friendship and laughter. Fanci was one of those few and shall be remembered with warmth and affection. Bailey and Jeanne

Hellsmut Resident:   My deepest condolences to a wonderful friend.

Silber Sands:   My condolence to You, Patrick and all who were close to her. I rarely met a person with such a huge and warm heart like Fanci had. She always showed her deep friendship and love to the people. I wished I could do anything to ease Your pain.

SerenityAeon Resident:   Fanci, we never met but i have seen your beautiful work in Sailors Cove and everyone i am talking to is telling me what a wonderful person you have been. My best wishes on your journey and always fair winds. Serenity

Driff Beardmore:   I will always remember you, with every changing season and each blanket of newly fallen snow.

Krys4sl Resident:   I wish you the peace and continue sailing in the place where you are now. Thank you for all.

Sail Fizz Cup 2013 !!

 

The Flying Fizz 2013 World Cup is just a month away, and Silber Sands is this year’s Regatta Chair. The Qualifying Rounds are scheduled for the weekend of November 22-23, with Gold and Silver Finals on Saturday, December 7.

It’s not too late to sign up; Regatta Chair Sands reports there are still a few slots available for those who want to race for the Gold this year! You can get all the info at:

http://fizzcup.slsailing.co/

 

Fanci Beebe Memorial Service October 27

Memorial Service

to honor the memory and
celebrate the life of

Fanci Beebe-Leavitt

Sunday, October 27 10:00am SLT
Fishers Island Theatre
Fishers Island sim (29,127)

Following the service, there will be a short cruise from Fishers Island.
The fleet will sail past FIYC in Sailors Rest and end in Fanci’s Deep,
where sailors can leave flowers and remembrances for Fanci.

Thank you to Joy Canadeo, David Wetherby, Chaos Mandelbrot
and many others for their efforts arranging this memorial service.

Old Salts

Jane shows off RJ Kikuchiyo’s Eagle at DYC

I saw Thorvald Larsen online today; he has not been in SL recently, and so it was a real treat to chat with him and update for a few minutes.

courtesy of Dil Spitz

I met Thorvald in January 2007, I’m not sure where. It was either on the docks of the old SL Nantucket sim, or in an online Wooden Boat discussion thread. I don’t remember which, but it hardly makes a difference. 🙂

Thorvald is a life-long sailor. The Tahiti Ketch he owns was built by his father, and the boat became a major inspiration for Jacqueline Trudeau’s virtual Tahiti Ketch I & II designs.

If I’m not mistaken, Thorvald also lobbied for “reefing”  as a sail trim feature in SL boats. That idea first came to life in the (rather legendary) Trudeau Twenty, but it quickly became a standard cruising and racing feature in sailboats from many builders. The recent Patchogue II has two reef points!

Thorvald is a stickler for realistic features in classic SL boats, so I had fun today showing off RJ Kikuchiyo’s recreation of the USCGC Eagle that’s docked at DYC on the west side of Knaptrackicon Channel. It’s rather amazing. 🙂

Thorvald is a great example of the way SL provides a platform where real sailors can work with talented digital designers and scripters. When that happens, sometimes wondrous creations emerge, and everyone smiles.

Let me close this little note with a recent clip of Thorvald’s Tahiti Ketch on a day cruise, sailing the waters of Long Island Sound:

Committee Upgrade

Drwyndwn Tyne is vice-commodore of Fishers Island Yacht Club. He’s also the builder and clubhouse manager of FIYC’s new home base in Sailors Rest.

FIYC

Three weeks ago Drew contacted Analyse Dean to discuss a possible new ‘Committee Boat’ to use at FIYC for races and other regatta functions. He wrote:

“We’d like a committee boat for our race lines. I own one of your 570 Bimini’s, and I think with some modification, it would be perfect. What we would require would be:
• an open cockpit, without the fishing chairs, but with more of a bench seat inside the transom.
• the ability to raise and lower flags and sound a horn as per the Racing Rules of Sailing. This could be from a menu system, but timing might be an issue.
• the ability to have a yacht club burgee and a race committee flag hoisted.
• the ability to turn off or eliminate scripts not required for the function of a committee boat, i.e., I’m pretty sure the sex anims would be superfluous (although, one never knows :-).
The concept here is that the racers can TP to the committee boat to rezz their boats, and return to it after the race, if they wish, then the committee boat would return them to the yacht club for the after party. The flag system would make racing that much more realistic, rather than using chat or gridtalkie, or possibly in combination.

___

Analyse agreed with Drew, and they both decided Analyse’s Bandit 580 might be a better starting point. They’ve been working on the idea and soliciting sailors’ opinions since.

Here are Ldewell Hawker’s thoughts on the issue:

A committee boat is needed for formal racing, it as in RL is always anchored so that it is the basically delineated starboard layline. It is never the port end! It serves a series of purposes in RL – close observation point in a ‘barge’ protest i.e, leeward rights – prevents a beam reach to the line. It ALSO represents the mark that the line is judged by TO THE PIN END.

Often a mast or flag pole is on THE BOAT for hosting various flags. In match racing the committee boat becomes part of the pre-start tactics.
NOW most Yacht Clubs even dangle a rubber boat, or dingy which now actually become part of the BOAT/MARK – see new rules 2013-2016 (the real reason is to protect the committee boat from damage)
MOST CLUBS in RL now use an automated system for starts, even touted as being ‘fool proof’ (joke) gives beeps to raise flags etc, and sounds horn at clock start, and other programmed times. 
HOWEVER, in SL if you are out of the SIM you won’t hear any sounds – of course you can see the flags if your draw distance is set for that. I have a pair of binoculars as when I race most of the time there are at least 4 classes competing so that means I am buzzing around for 15-20 min….waiting for a start sequence – my class is usually last to start.
Hay’s START LINES and timer have enhanced SL considerably, because if you start a stop watch to use – and use it to time a run to the line …you can often BE OVER EARLY as it does not LAG with SL! Hay can correct me (sure she will) but the line clock responds by SL clocking. IT also determined is you are over early….
I used Yuu’s flag system with running match races, and still have his lines and gantry for hoisting them. I found that many SL sailors were simply confused by the flags….and it became a dimension of frustration for some.
In RL many clubs are having various starts from the same lines…and each fleet has: (1) course flag (can be same for all fleets or not) (2) A fleet flag which is hoisted at the 5 min warning (3) followed by PREPARATORY flag WITH penalties for over early (I, Z or Black flag)- FINALLY, WITH 1 MIN TO GO… THOSE FLAGS ARE DROPPED, AND AT THE START THE NEXT CLASS FLAG IS RAISED if multi-class races. NOW the flags are needed as you cannot hear, nor do committee boats shout the start sequence…. 
I can assure you…unless you do this all the time…it will be confusing – event then still unclear…….which is why most RL sailors have a ‘cheat sticker’ and a ‘flag sticker’ in their boats – AS WELL AS A radio scanning the RC frequency!
Finally, a Committee boat should not be huge, in RL many lake clubs use pontoon boats, and on the ocean – larger boats BECAUSE they are stuck on it ALL day! It needs some room as many whom do race duty are volunteers for the RC chairperson – or Race Director.
If you do one for SL, it should NOT be a vehicle – keep the boat a free of prims, scripts and avatars hanging out as possible…
NOW what would be cool, would be a Committee boat that turns with wind veer or shifts, as well as responds to the tides and currents…or responds to tides/currents and has a FLAG on it that shifts with the wind….WWC wind…
Smart ocean sailor use the anchored boats, for clues…to tide strength, shifts in wind and a host of other things….(can’t give out all the secrets….)
So bottom line….EVERY RACE LINE should have a committee boat, KEEP Hay’s timer, you can see it a couple of sims away…KEEP the boat small, AND don’t get hung up on the FLAGS – YOU MAY have to spend more time educating than you will racing!
If you must have flags….well… make it automated, and sort of…for ‘atmosphere….’ // Hawk…

___

Jeremia Spotter commented:

Well said by Mr Hawker, there is nothing to add.
Btw: afaik the original “Yuu-line-set” came not with one of Twoheads vessels , it came with joepie Korobase’s BIGhorn tugboat, which belongs to the historical section of SL boating and sailing. I have used Mannie Madonna’s “Cabin Cruiser” for a long time, also with an eye on the historical side …
So – the boat really doesn’t matter at all. My favourite would be one of this kind:

Hawk’s last words are a good resumee: “If you must have flags….well… make it automated, and sort of…for ‘atmosphere…”

At least : I first can see some mesh-boats … if its too late – and i bump into that boats. I’m using the running SL-viewer and did no changes to the LOD-factor – and would never do when i race. So its important for me, that a committee boat which marks one end of the startline can be seen from a long distance by everyone.

___

Jane Fossett’s initial comments:

Here is a picture of Analyse Dean’s draft build of a possible new committee boat, sitting next to the older one by Twohead Janus that came with Yuu Nakamichi’s raceline.

Analyse’s boat has LOD=32 and is not yet scripted. The plan is to (hopefully) incorporate ISAF Race Flag signals and interface with the Hay Ah line for those clubs and regattas that want a committee boat option.
This is a first draft to promote discussion so interested sailors and RDs can give input to Analyse as she puts this together. Please send her your comments. 🙂
Here are my own first thoughts:
1. I understand the new boat will have a smaller LOD than the old Yuu setup. That should help prevent ‘denial of entry’ errors on small raceline parcels.
2. I am not sure if the draft boat is too long to serve as a Starboard raceline end mark. I defer to Jere and Hawk on that point.
3. The Flag signals could be hard to see by racing skippers. I wonder if the Flags could also have a ‘shout’ attached to them so the whole race fleet is notified.
4. The detail on the committee boat is nice but I think most RDs will want the canopy ‘down’ so racing skippers can easily see boats approaching from the other side.

___

Armano Xaris said:

I’m pro progress and think it’s a good plan that analyse dean builds a modern committee boat.. I’m against shouting flags haha :-).
You don’t look to flags, but to your slsa timer in sl racing. So i think flags is more of a window dresser for public then usefull for racers…

Please keep everything as slim as possible to create minimal lag, and consider this boat might be used under heavy sim conditions in bigger races also. Every tiny bit can add to a boat crashing when we stretch sim usage to it’s limits again.
I think the size of the boat is in a technical way not relevant when you can adjust the position of the startline buoy next to the committee boat.
Analyse might want to consider a startline buoy next to boat, that is part of the boat and movable on this size…

I have no opinion if this boat is a beauty concerning the size, and the fact that it might stay online for a longer amount of time next to startlines in blake sea for example. I vote neutral and think others have opinions about that :-).
Ok. These are my first thoughts.. I wish all could luck who are busy with this project.

___

I put a copy of Analyse’s ‘draft discussion boat’ in the small bay at DYC for anyone who’d like to check it out themselves, and I’ve also put a copy near the dock at Strawberry. 🙂 If there is broad consensus on its merits and features, a new committee boat might be a desirable option for many racelines in SL Sailing. 

Please give Analyse Dean your opinions and ideas on this, or you can post your comments below. 🙂

Cruisin’ Part 2: The Café del Mar 75

Cafe Del Mar 75

A few days ago I talked about the Bandit 50, a BWind 2.5 cruising boat by Analyse Dean that’s available through The Mesh Shop. However, shortly after Bandit 50  launched Kain Xenobuilder released his own Mesh Shop cruiser design. It’s called the Café del Mar 75.

“Dutch” Xenobuilder is a true mesh-master, and he usually shows his nautical talents off with detailed and accurate emulations of contemporary race boats. I’ve written several articles about his Volvo Ocean -70, One Design -65, Nacra -17, and Laser One.

However, the new Café del Mar 75 reflects a different approach that might appeal to a wider audience. This boat is designed primarily as a cruiser, not a racer, and it has enough room and features to convey a skipper and three friends across the grid in both style and comfort. 🙂

The CM75 is not designed to match the specs of any particular boat class. This is more a ‘concept boat‘ that reflect’s Dutch’s personal preference and creative talents. The boat is actually named after Café del Mar, a legendary bar in Ibiza that’s a must-visit waypoint for the high-end sailing crowd (… and what bar isn’t?) 🙂 . Café del Mar also has a great restaurant and wonderful sunsets, but it’s probably best known for it’s in-house techno-trance Café del Mar electronic music mix.

With that inspiration, Dutch has produced a fun and somewhat fantasy cruiser that’s quite different from the Bandit 50 I talked about last time. 🙂

Café del Mar 75 Build

As you can see above, the CM75 is a rather sizable boat. It also has sharper design features in its hull and topside construction compared to the Bandit 50 or the Loonetta 31 (or even the Tetra 35, for that matter). This of course is a matter of personal taste, and several avid cruisers have spontaneously told me how much they love the CM 75‘s looks.

The cockpit is spacious with helm stations both port and starboard, and the skipper automatically bounces to the windward side when the boat tacks.  The helm animation has a unique feature too: When the boat heels, the skipper will lean in the opposite direction to stay upright. 🙂

There’s another rather novel feature to the helm in this boat: just in front of the wheel are two analog gauges that display the real-time Boat Speed and Apparent Wind Angle. There’s no separate Heads Up Display, so if you want more information you need to go to the boat’s center Control Station. (more on that below).

Cockpit comfort

Since this is primarily a cruise boat, the cockpit is fitted out with two reclining deck chairs with cushions to let guests nap and tan while aboard. Each has an attached side table large enough to hold a Margarita and some snacks, and maybe even a Kindle e-book too.

It’s all designed for a quiet night in Ibiza. If the boat heeled five degrees in RL all that stuff (plus your guests) would likely slide onto the cockpit floor, and if you head up into the waves, you may quickly find your crew washed astern from the boat’s open-aft, racing-style cockpit. 🙂

click for bigness

Animations. The CM75 is full of poses suited for either skipper or crew. Buttons on the ‘crewhud‘ let a sailor find a suitable location and animation by scrolling the avatar through a sequence of positions; there is no hierarchical menu. In other words, to go from the cockpit helm to sit on a bench down below, you’ll need to transit through several poses in the shower. That’s no big deal, but I admit it’s a tad inconvenient. 🙂

As you flip through the poses, you may find another interesting glitch: two avatars on CM75 can simultaneously occupy the same sit position (don’t ask me how this happens). That can lead to images of inadvertent – and possibly disturbing – excess intimacy, as shown in the second photo above.
(But hey, it’s SL– get over it!) 🙂

Cruise Cabin

The contrast between cruising features and ocean racer design in CM75 continues as one moves into the cabin; take a look below.

In most ocean-going cruisers, going below deck is like entering a military bunker. The space is relatively cramped and multipurpose, and the windows are narrow slits or even worse: portholes.

That’s not true in Café Del Mar. The cabin is quite expansive, with a wall of translucent, impact resistant Glass/Plexiglas at the front end of the cockpit with full-sized sliding doors. These open into a combination Pilot House/Central Cabin with plenty of headroom that includes a large centrally-located Control Panel. There’s a wrap-around panoramic window view from the cabin level, although I admit it’s constrained vertically and gives something of a letterbox impression.

The Control Panel has many analog gauges that document critical info about sailing status. A smart skipper might do well to direct the boat from this enclosed command station, but it will take some thinking to get the camera views right, so a skipper can easy flip between views of the surrounding water and closeups of the guages on the panel. This boat might be best sailed with Mouselook, or a third party cam and info Hud. New owners will need to experiment and find out what works best for them.

This is a concept boat, remember!

On the port side of the main cabin there is a rather fancy kitchenette, replete with a cooktop, sink, blender and espresso machine. 🙂 On the starboard side, there’s a full, stand-up shower that will accommodate two people, as long as they know each other really well.

Moving further forward, you’ll find a substantial cabin with plush benches that are more-than-adequate for the crew this boat can accommodate. At the bow end there’s a master cabin, complete with a double bed and two video monitors ready to display your favorite SL-compatible media. 🙂

That foreward berth is a bit of a tight squeeze, and you may need a little cam-practice before you can comfortably watch the watch the television sets located there. One caution, however: don’t plug in the TV while the boat is underway; you could get electrocuted. 🙂 As you can see above, the forward cabin lies low in the bow and bilge washes though the cabin whenever the boat’s on a slight heel.

Some Sail Stuff

Keel. Let me add a few extra items here about the build that I think are relevant to sailing. First and foremost, the bulb keel is physical.  As you can see below, I ran this boat fast aground by riding the keel up on a sandbar. There was excellent match between the visible keel and the grounding point. (that’s nice) 🙂

Sails. The boat has a sloop rig, with a few interesting touches. On upwind headings, the boat is powered by a mainsail and a full genoa jib, both nicely meshed out.

As I mentioned earlier, this boat does NOT have a HUD. You need to rely on the onboard analog instruments, and watch for visible and audible sail luff. The CM75 gives you another nice hint: The sails have telltales attached. When the telltales hang loose, you need to adjust the sheeting; when the telltales are streaming horizontal, you are ‘in the zone.’ 🙂

When sailing downwind, you can deploy a gennaker to get an extra boost. When you raise the sail by chat command, it automatically douses the Genoa and raises a staysail in it’s place, so you have three sails flying.

Setting the angles for three sails to get optimal drag effects downwind can be a daunting problem in real life. It’s no less an issue in SL. However, in Second Life most sail engines combine the commands for the main and foresails, and revert to an optimal sheet setting of one-half the Apparent Wind Angle.

The image to the right shows Cafe del Mar on a dead run (AWA 180°) using the optimal sheet settings for the main and gennaker. However, if you actually measure the sail angles it looks like the main is set to around  45°, only half the genn angle (90°) .

This may be a quibble that’s irrelevant for most sailors since it only involves sail appearance, but it’s nonetheless interesting and worth checking on other boats.

Sailing the Café del Mar 75

Dutch tells me that the sailing scripts in this boat are retooled and more efficient than prior Mesh Shop Bwind 2.5 boats. I believe that; I’ve sailed CM75 through many difficult grid situations over the past few months and taken it on quite lengthy leeward cruises, all with good results!

iPad2 windsetter

If you have sailed any of the mesh shop boats, you’ll be familiar with the Café del Mar 75 right out of the box. If you type the chat command “cruising,” the boat goes into standard BWind mode. That gives you six different options for wind speed and eight more options for wind direction. You make your selection by a simple chat command, and the boat echoes your choice:

[09:00:31] Jane Fossett: 11
[09:00:31] TMS Radar: Wind blowing at 11 Kts.

You can do the same thing for wind direction, and then finally check your results using the chat command “wind.”

[09:01:19] Jane Fossett: wind
[09:01:19] Cafe del Mar 75 whispers: 25 Kts. E BWind

I’m making a point of this, because there’s apparently a glitch in the settings for “15 kts.” If you say “15” in chat, the boat will correctly record that setting but it won’t give you any chat text feedback about the change. This is specific for the “15” command in CM75 (at least in my boat). All the other numbers and directions work as they should, and the “15” works correctly on similar boats, including the Bandit 50.

Once again, this is just a small issue, and you can always use the “wind” command to make sure you get the right settings.

Take two tablets…

If you want to use the boat for racing, the Café Del Mar 75 comes with the Mesh Shop iPad 2 tablet interface wind setter.

The iPad2 has the same set of options for wind speed and direction as the BWind chat commands, and it allows you to broadcast those numbers to the local racing fleet.

Even without a boat, you can get your own copy of the iPad2 for free from the SL Marketplace, and you can download the manual here.

Let me add one important update that’s not yet in the iPad2 docs: The ‘drift‘ function that sets a gradual shift in wind direction is currently disabled. The icon is still there and will change when you click on it, but the wind is not affected. Dutch reports that sailors were not using the option, so he removed it. Meaningful wind fluctuations are an important part of virtual sail-racing, but it’s less of an issue in Café Del Mar since the boat is primarily a cruiser. The race options are mostly an add-on for skippers who want to do timed laps or sail in Big Boat regattas.

Sharing the work

The skipper steers the boat and performs basic sail adjustments with a standard set of arrow keys and chat commands. 

The boat also comes with a crewHUD that allows any sailor aboard to trim the sheets or change the foresail. If you want even more control over your rig, there’s an undocumented sheet adjustment command available:

/29000 sheetX

“X” can be a positive or a negative number. For example, the command “/29000 sheet20″ will let the sails out 20°. If you plan to sail this boat a lot, you may want to put the routine sail commands into a gesture set. Actually, Fearless Freenote already has a gesture pack for the Mesh Shop Vo-70 and OD-65, and I bet the same commands will work fine on the Café del Mar. Ask Fearless, Jane, or Hannelore Ballinger if you want a copy of the free gesture pack. 🙂

The crew HUD shown above also contains a nifty “Controls” button that allows a skipper to hand over helm responsibility to one of the crew onboard. It’s a very nice feature that permits you to give ‘demo drives’ to friends who are interested in the boat.

Autopilot

Cruisers usually want a boat that is well-built, reliable, and large enough to carry several friends across a long voyage; they are less concerned about the details of sail selection and sheeting. If that sounds like you, then Café del Mar has a feature you might really like: an Autopilot!

If you turn on the Autopilot, all you have to do is steer the boat. The Autopilot will make the appropriate sail changes and adjust the sheeting to the optimal settings along your route. The only thing you’ll have to do is keep one hand on the wheel while drinking that Margarita. 🙂

The autopilot gadget can actually be a real lifesaver when you’re in a crowded fleet under severe lag at the start of a Leeward Cruise. In that situation a skipper is often just trying to avoid collisions and can’t tinker with the sail adjustments.

I like it!

Cafe del Mar Sprints

The Autopilot makes performance testing relatively easy; the boat sets the sails optimally at each heading. However, Café del Mar does not have a detailed numbers HUD, so to collect polar data I’ve been using a separate Navigation HUD. Those third party Nav HUD numbers closely match the control panel gauge results onboard CM75. It’s a good cross-check.

With that short explanation about methods, let me say that the Café del Mar 75 turns out to be the fastest cruise boat I’ve ever tested in SL waters. With the autopilot settings the boat easily scored a Hotlaps Handicap of 1.12, meaning that it’s 12% faster than the Melges 24 raceboat. In fact, the CM75 is faster than the ACA-33 and even the VO-70.

Two very different Mesh Shop boats, the Nacra-17 and the One Design 65, have lap times that match Café del Mar 75, and the only boats that beat CM75 are the high-end ocean racers built by WildWind.  

Yikes! Next time you sail this boat, make sure to bring racing gloves and a lifeline! It’s FAST.

The polar plot below details the boat’s speedy performance. It plots boat speed under autopilot conditions with a Real Wind Speed of 15 knots. The data for Café del Mar is shown in purple, and the Bandit 50 results are shown for comparison in green.

As you can see, on every point of sail the CM 75 is faster than Bandit 50, and on a reach the CM 75 even exceeds Real Wind Speed. This kind of performance in a cruiser may seem unnatural, but please remember that this is a ‘Concept Boat.’ It’s more about what’s possible than what’s present. 🙂

Summary

The Café del Mar 75 is the latest release by Mesh Meister Kain Xenobuilder. It’s a 75 foot mesh Cruiser with a modern, angular design and many authentic and innovative sailing features. The boat is suitable for a skipper plus three crew, and there’s extensive space as well as over two dozen animations to accommodate everyone on a long voyage.

The Café del Mar 75 is powered by the new BWind 2.5 wind engine and it has options to share sailing tasks (sheet adjustment and even steering) between skipper and crew.

The boat is full of features that any sailor will like, including mesh sails with visible and audible luffing effects, working telltales, and realistic analog display gauges. It also has an Autopilot that will automatically take over most of the sailing work for you.

And for those cruisers who always want to sail at the head of the fleet, the performance of this boat will be a pleasant surprise. It is easily one of the fastest cruising boats ever built in SL.

Go try the Cafe del Mar 75 out for yourself; there are demos you can sail of Café and all the other Mesh Shop creations over in Tschotcke sim in Second Life.

Return to Fastnet

Last evening I caught up with Chaos Mandelbrot, and we sailed around Bingo Strait mostly in silence as we remembered our lost friend, Fanci Beebe.

Chaos mentioned that he and David Wetherby are coordinating with Kittensusie Lander to dedicate the Sunday Leeward Cruise on October 13 as a cruise of remembrance for Fanci. Kittensusie will have the details as the day approaches; please contact her if you have suggestions.

While Chaos and I were sailing, David dropped me a note saying that many sailors were leaving flowers and other mementos in the Fanci’s Deep simset, the new area dedicated to her in USS. That might be a good spot for sailors to pay their respects this week; there’s a long autoreturn, so your flowers and notes will persist.

Inevitably, last night we ended up sailing over to Fastnet Light in Crow’s Nest. For four years now, Fastnet has been a resolute beacon in the center of Blake Sea and a central icon of our community. It stands for the unity, determination and persistence of sailors across the globe and across the grid, for all time.

Fastnet Light is also the location of the sailor’s memorial in SL. The simple design incorporates the textures of the 1979 Fastnet Race memorial, extending the sailor list to include those fellow SL sailors who have passed away while part of our community.

God Bless RJ Kikuchiyo, who designed Fastnet Light -SL and the memorial stone in place there; when we stopped by to pay our respects, RJ had already appended Fanci Beebe to the list of dear friends who are now gone, but never forgotten.

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I thought this might be a good moment to repost a few past articles on the origin and significance of Fastnet Light in SL. There are many grid-sailors who were not present back in 2009 when Blake Sea and Fastnet Light came into being.

(Note: I’m made some small editorial corrections to the reposted articles, and I’ve added a few images. If any of the original authors are concerned I’m infringing their copyright, please contact me and I’ll correct the problem.)

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Fastnet Rock Light in SL™

Posted Feb 4th, 2009 on Kiku*Craft by RJ Kikuchiyo

Fastnet has a wonderfully rich history.  The light itself is memorialized as “The Tear of Ireland” for it is the last thing you see when travelling by ship west toward America.  It has been an example of technological innovation in lighthouse design, and will be remembered for its role as the far mark in the Fastnet Race, a legendary test of sailing and seamanship leaving Cowes and returning.  The 1979 Race was marked with tragedy as a storm approached 20 people died during the event. The details of the race and its impact on ocean racing was documented in many fine texts, including “Fastnet: Force 10″ by John Rousmaniere.

Without a doubt, the Rock is an imposing figure on the Irish Coast.  The area is rarely without bad weather, and the wrecks that litter the sea bottom in the area attest to the dangers involved with traversing this area of the North Atlantic Ocean.

More than a year ago a visitor to the SL Boat Show in Sailor’s Cove Sim had struck up a conversation about this place.  It was at the time, a passing thought that this light should and could be built for Second Life™ residents and sailors. As I recall, I asked the visitor (JeanCarlo Kepler) to be patient if he did not want to spend outrageous fortunes on the construction according to his schedule.  Pleasantly enough, JeanCarlo had been patient, and when the time was available, construction began.  Below is a scattered collection of photos of the real and virtual version of this venerable monument to man’s devotion, and respect for, the sea: (Ed.: You can find the images here.)

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Two Big Improvments: The Lighthouse and the Platform

Posted  May 21, 2009 on SLSailing.com by MarkTwain White

From day one of the discussions with LL on the creation of the Blake Sea it was proposed that RJ Kikuchiyo’s Fastnet Lighthouse should be included in the Blake Sea. Jack was initially resistant. There were lots of reasons in the early days of discussing Fastnet as to why it could not be done. “We generally dont put resident builds in Linden sims”, “RJ woud have to become a Mole”, Mega primes are evil (this quote is paraphrased), and so forth. Our argument was that the Fastnet Lighthouse would be the PERFECT centerpiece for a sailing area. If there is such a thing as holy ground in sailing, Fastnet Lighthouse has to be amonst the holiest of sailing’s shrines.

It took a long time but in the end the build was approved.

As it turns out Jack has sailed around the lighthouse in RL and if I remember correctly nearly ended up on the rocks. Funny thing is the Jack did not tell me that story until AFTER he approved the addition of the lighthouse to the Blake Sea.

The Spectator Platform in its new position in Haggerty with Fastnet in the background in Crow’s Nest

However the move didn’t happen exactly as planned. The lighthouse was put in slightly the wrong location and the orange mark, a critical mark in more than one course, was too close to the lighthouse. You can read about this here.

Additionally a part of the grand strategy during this period was to move the Spectator Platform to Blake Sea Haggerty. When the Blake Sea was created the Spectator Platform was placed in Crow’s Nest where we wanted it but it was rotated to the south looking at the orange mark. The fleet would come from behind the spectators, pass below the platform, then come into view as they rounded the orange mark. Not optimal.

We requested that be fixed by rotating the platform 180 degrees and moving to the southern side of the sim facing north so that spectators could see the fleet start and sail to them.  They told us that it would be a lot of work and it would not be a high priority fix. Thus the Spectator Platform had not been used much.

Now seperated from the Lighthouse, the two builds work together instead of “clashing”

With Fastnet it became a whole new game. The optimal deployment with the two builds would be to put Fastnet in the center postion in the Blake Sea (Crow’s Nest) and move the Platform to  Haggerty where spectators could view the Atlantic and Pacific startlines. After a could of days to get it worked out the new deployments took place on May 19 and 20.

There was a momentary (one day) bump in the road to correct an altitude problem wiht the Platform and now the platform has a clear passage of 60 meters allowing even Jaqueline’s new J-Boats to pass under it.

These improvements in this part of the Blake Sea are almost finished and are directly the results of hard work by Michael Linden (Fastnet Lighthouse placement and terraforming), Brent Linden (Spectator Platform move), and last but certainly not the least RJ Kikuchiyo (the Fastnet Lighthouse build). Thanks also goes to Jack Linden and the rest of the LL Blake Sea contingent who approved the builds.

“Almost Finished” you ask? Stay tuned.

The view from the platform looking back at the Atlantic and Pacific lines

Fanci Beebe passes.

Patrick Leavitt wrote:

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Fanci Beebe has passed away.

On Friday October 4, 2013 around 12:35pm my soul mate and best friend Fanci Beebe lost her battle with Pancreatic Cancer. She passed peacefully at home with her family next to her.

It seemed like she was doing better and that her treatment was going to give her more time, but sadly that was not the case. The news leaves us all with a great void; Fanci touched so many lives. I know I will never be the same person again and I suspect many of you feel the same.

She loved Sailors Cove and FIYC. She was a strong stubborn woman and she always worked to make Sailors Cove something special. It was not just the way Sailors Cove looked; it was how we all treated each other as a community. Fanci wanted all to feel they were welcome in Sailors Cove and that they had a home there. She always went the extra mile to make new friends comfortable.

Fanci also had a soft, vulnerable side that probably only a few of us knew. She loved me unconditionally, and I am very thankful that our last words expressed the love we held for each other.

I want to thank every one of you for your support of Fanci and for all your wonderful notecards and IMs. Thank you too for supporting the new owners of Sailors Cove. Your support has gone a long way in us helping her family.

This has been my comfort through all of this, I hope you understand:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8: 35, 37-end

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Words escape me at this time, so I won’t comment further tonight, but please note:

David Wetherby and Chaos Mandelbrot will arrange a fleet sail in Fanci’s memory this coming week, and RJ Kikuchiyo will add Fanci’s name to the Memorial at Fastnet Light. Joy Canadeo will organize a memorial service in a few weeks’ time, where we can join and remember Fanci together.

I liontaib Dé go ghcastar simm.

Seychelle Isles Connects to Mainland

Last week I posted about a new simset under construction next to Nautilus’ Northeast Coastal Waterway. It looked like a great build, and it was in a location that had excellent access to several large and popular sailing regions. There were no announcements at that time, although the sims were clearly part of Irish Estates (now Seychelles Isles).

Today Irishgent Resident kindly sent me a press release announcing the new Seychelles location and the linkage to mainland water in Nautilus.

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IRISH ESTATES BECOMES SEYCHELLES ISLES

October 1, 2013 – It was formally announced today that the collection of sims known as Irish Estates in Second Life has moved location within Second Life and has been renamed Seychelles Isles (pronounced Say-Shellz). This new location adjacent to the Blake Sea and Linden Ocean, offers residents of the estate many more open water sailing opportunities.

It was in October of 2011 that IrishGent Resident launched Irish Estates, a residential community in Second Life. This estate includes both custom built and resident owned homes, along with extensive lush landscaping. All sims are surrounded by water with numerous amenities for the residents including: a yacht club, a dance club, regular entertainment with both live and dj music, and a sim dedicated to surfing with complimentary surfboards.

At the time founder and creator of the estate, IrishGent stated, “I am so pleased to be able to offer the residents of Second Life a home that is truly a community. From the moment I came to Second Life I dreamed of building a community. And, to see it come alive is truly a rewarding experience.” And now almost two years later, IrishGent and his management team are proud to announce a name change for the estate to the Seychelles Isles. IrishGent explains his rationale behind the name change “I, along with my management team, decided that we wanted a name that better encapsulated our vision of what the estate encompasses and the result is…. Seychelles Isles. The Seychelles out in the real world are a magnificent collection of islands, surrounded by turquoise seas, exquisite coral beds and unblemished sun kissed beaches. You will agree with me that Ericaanne Hastings, our resident landscaper and designer, has done a fine job of replicating paradise on our estate.”

Fulfill your fantasy, allow yourself to transcend pleasure in an exotic island atmosphere, come and live in exclusive luxury in harmony with nature – your private piece of paradise in Second Life.

For more information regarding availability of residential parcels, contact IrishGent Resident or Baila Palmira.

Payton Heron Marketing Director,
Seychelles Isles 
Payton.Heron@gmail.com

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If you want more info, you can check IrishEstates.org; the new website SeychellesIsles.org is under construction. You can also see an early list of the Seychelles residential properties for sale here.

Although it’s somewhat buried in the press release, I think this could be a truly exciting new development for SL Sailing. As far as I am aware, this is the first major private estate/ mainland linkage agreement since the “joint community project” between United Sailing Sims and Linden lab that gave rise to Blake Sea.

Irishgent Resident is the leader of Saychelles Isles,  and he has a love for sailing in both RL and SL. Over the past few years he’s worked to build a coherent tropical island estate that’s supportive to sailing and a host of other nautical activities. As I understand it, this is part of that endeavor.

Please welcome him and all of Seychelles Isles as they make landfall on the coast of Nautilus!

Modern Cruisers, Part 1: The Bandit 50

The cruising crowd continues to grow in Second Life. Luckily, the options available to SL skippers also continue to expand, and in the past few months several new mid-sized cruising craft hit the water.

Loonetta Quartet at LCC

I admit it; for over a year now, Motor Loon’s  Loonetta 31 has been my personal ‘benchmark choice’ for a contemporary cruiser. Loonetta is a remarkably well-detailed and full-featured mesh build, and all the features somehow fit very nicely into a very tiny footprint (Prim 31, LOD 32).

However, time passes, and a sailor’s eyes start to wander… my Loonetta launched 14 months ago, and maybe now is a good time now to check out the marinas for a new cruising companion. 🙂

With that modus operandi, I’d like to highlight three cruisers with contemporary designs; it might assist some sailors seeking a new maritime relationship. The three vessels I’ll discuss are the Bandit 50, the Café Del Mar 75 and the RM 12. They are all well-crafted and nicely detailed; you can see their relative sizes in the header image above. Each boat has its own merits and it’s worth checking them all out to see which might meet your personal and particular sailing interest.

Bandit 50

The first boat I want to chime in on is the Bandit 50. It’s a 50 ft, mid-size sloop designed by Analyse Dean and available at the Mesh Shop. It’s a remarkably detailed and gracefully constructed mesh build. The beamy hull has plenty of room for crew topside, and there’s extensive forward cabin space as well.

The Bandit 50 build

Let’s click through some of the details. 🙂 The boat has so many features, it actually comes with two versions in the box. The full-featured cruiser is the Bandit 50B, while the Bandit 50R is a lightweight, stripped-down version more suitable for racing. Since the full-featured boat has a super-low LOD of 32, I nearly always sail that 50B version of the boat; I’ve had very little difficulty getting across sim borders or having parts fail to rez or fragment. I have not tried to race it, but I’ve sailed it on the Leeward Cruise, which can be a pretty big stress test.

As you can see in the above image, the cockpit is generously proportioned, with a single center wheel and binnacle with a working compass. There’s the requisite number of winches and a full set of lines to help you trim the sails, and there are a number of extras too. The most obvious one is a large, removable Bimini top that provides shade and modest weather protection to the aft cockpit and stern. To my knowledge, this is the only sailboat in Second Life that has a Bimini, and it’s a nice touch.

In her review of the boat, Orca takes a rather dim view of this extra piece of canvas, calling the Bandit 50B:

“…a “silly” version with those fuglycake booths that cover the cockpit and give your boat the appearance of a maritime home for the elderly. …
“Well, if you’re forced to skipper a boat from underneath a canopy at least you can pretend to like it. …”

To the contrary, I think a Bimini can be pretty useful if you’re sailing in the Caribbean or another subtropical latitude. The sun can be scorchingly intense, and a piece of canvas over your head comes in pretty handy when the wind dies or the boat sits moored. Anyway, whatever you may think, the Bimini is totally removable. 🙂

The boat will accommodate several friends both above and below decks. and there are a rather huge number of poses and animations built-in to accommodate them. The poses are hierarchically organized within a series of pop-up menu pages. That’s nice and orderly, and it takes only a couple seconds to find what you want and take a seat aboard. 🙂

The skipper can actually control the boat from any of these sit positions, but you will probably want to be at the helm for the best visibility while underway. Speaking of which, the boat has a simple ‘Crew Hud‘ system that lets others aboard share sailing responsibilities by adjusting the sheets and controlling the halyards. A skipper can even hand over helm control to one other designated person aboard. That useful option is similar to the helm-switching available on the Loonetta.

One more important point: unlike several other recent mesh boats, the Bandit 50 has a physical keel. That feature adds to the realism, but it means you’ll have to be careful when cruising the shallows.

Cabin Comforts

Bandit 50 has a central gangway that leads below decks from the cockpit.

The main cabin has plenty of space, and a surprising amount of headroom. The layout is traditional, and it follows the design of  most cruisers I’m familiar with in real life (see below). The L-shaped galley is on the port side as you enter, with the sink extending to the middle for easy access. The starboard side has space for a nav station, and forward there are curved benches on either side. As with most cruisers this size, the tables in front of the benches are collapsible, to maximize use of the space.
There is a separate, main sleeping compartment in the bow that is large enough for two very friendly people, and there are two more sleep cubbies on either side of the engine compartment below the cockpit.

Sailing the Bandit 50

BWind 2.5. The Bandit 50 Uses a BWind 2.5 sail engine by Becca Moulliez. To set the wind, the skipper uses an iPad tablet that displays familiar BWind options. The current iPad2 can also be operated by an independent race director who can broadcast the wind parameters for a fleet of racers or cruisers that are nearby and listening.  (A small glitch with the iPad2: the time display is off by one hour. 🙂 )

I’ve discussed the BWind 2.5 engine before. It’s fine for cruising, but it may have significant limitations for some race applications; I’ll talk more on that in the next article in this series. Let me just emphasize here that Bandit 50 does not work with the standard raceline WWC in use across the grid, and the system for adding wind variance is quite different. Sailors will need to judge for themselves whether this represents a major handicap, depending on how you sail.

HUDs and such. The bandit 50 is controlled by a simple set of chat commands and keyboard combinations that will be very familiar to any user that owns a Mesh Shop boat. In particular, there are chat commands that turn the text HUD on or off, that engage the engine (yes, it has an engine!), and that change the communication channel.

Speaking of the HUD, the Bandit 50B has a full-featured BWind text-HUD that changes color when the sails are out of tune. It even includes text messages warning the skipper to pull in or let out the sail.
If that wasn’t enough, the sails visibly and audibly flap when they are out of tune, and a set of telltales go limp as well. It’s nice to have all that feedback while cruising. 🙂
If you not a big fan of HUDs, you can turn it off and sail by the boat’s instruments; there’s a complete display panel above the gangway full of analog dials that tell you about the wind and boat speed.
(Note: the Bandit 50R does not have a BWind text HUD; you have to race that boat by the seat of your pants. 🙂 )

Bandit 50 Polar

Speaking of racing, let’s talk about Bandit 50’s performance; it’s pretty speedy.
As I discussed a few days ago, on the Hotlaps test courses this boat earned a Handicap of 0.89. That’s pretty impressive for a beamy, full-service cruiser; it was one of the fastest boats in its class.

Here is the  polar for the Bandit 50B.

The chart to the right shows boat speed for Real Wind Angles (RWA) in response to a 15 kn constant wind speed. As you can see, the performance curve using the Main+Jib looks pretty typical for a sloop, with maximum boat speed on a beam reach with RWA in the 85°–125° range. On that point of sail Bandit 50 will do approximately 80% of RWS.

The spinnaker will only go up when the boat is sailing downwind with an RWA > 135°, and it automatically douses as the boat turns windward. When it’s up, the spinnaker will allow a skipper to sail 80% of RWS to a downwind angle of 150°.
You can see on the chart that there is an interesting, small “divit” in the performance curve around 132°. That happens when the Genoa is losing power, but before the spinnaker will stay up. It’s a pretty realistic feature, but it’s probably best to avoid that heading if you want to get the best out of the boat. 🙂

One more thing; if you look closely, the boat speed actually picks up after the boat’s heading goes over 180°. This is the same “by the Lee” effect incorporated into the Mesh Shop Laser One. It’s nice to see it here too. 🙂

Turn Style

Cruisers are often beamy boats with lots of mass. It can be a real chore to turn them around, and it often takes considerable space. The wheel response can also seem sluggish and sloppy in RL and SL.

Well, that’s not true for Bandit 50. I did a series of 180° Half Circle tests on the boat to see if it could cut a sharp turn, and it came through like a champ.

The top image to the right shows the X-Y position of the boat measured each second during a hard turn into the wind from AWA -90° to AWA +90°. The boat has a turning radius of around 15 m, which in Second Life is actually pretty good.
To demonstrate that, in the second figure I superimposed Bandit 50’s turn onto the turn plots of a large number of other boats shown in gray. This boat handles pretty well!

Wrap-up

The Bandit 50 is a pretty great build that meets all the criteria a cruising skipper could hope for. The construction is wonderfully detailed and accurate, there’s enough room and sit positions for a crowd of friends, and the performance is realistic for a midsize sloop.

However, the best accolades come from Admiral Chaos Mandelbrot.
He runs the Tuesday evening LCC events, so he’s a veteran cruiser if there ever was one. 🙂 Chaos tells me the Bandit 50 has now replaced Loonetta 31 as his Tuesday cruiser of choice. 🙂

Go give the boat a test drive yourself at the Mesh Shop and see what you think.

Don’t decide too fast, though. I have two more cruise boats to tell you about in upcoming days. 🙂